Health and Mental Health Research in South Africa & Mauritius (PSYC 499)

*Undergraduate applicants only, graduate students are not eligible*

Syllabus

Program Information

Students will learn about prospective research design, existing longitudinal health studies in these two nations, unique challenges of conducting international research, and ethical considerations in human subjects research. An overarching goal of this course is to help students begin to develop culturally competent research skills, including understanding of the environments in which the research is conducted and the contexts in which the outcomes should be interpreted. A variety of opportunities are provided for students to learn from and study with international scholars with whom the instructor has built research connections and collaborations over the past 20+ years. Experiences and excursions outside the classroom will provide a broader understanding of these societies, which shape their approaches to physical and mental health policies. Students will also produce their own literature review expanding on a topic examined in the two research programs and examining this in a variety of samples and contexts. It is anticipated that these experiences will inspire students to expand their world views and think more deeply about how the processes they have learned about in their psychology courses apply in similar and divergent ways across societies. Such understanding of the processes underlying mental health is central to generating more comprehensive theories of human behavior and is a critical component to tailoring effective prevention and intervention programs to different cultural contexts worldwide.

Contact Information

Faculty Director: Susan Luczak

Email: luczak@usc.edu